UVA Alumni Association (Oddly) Bans Jefferson Council Advertisement
So much for the memory of a man who feared no truths.
The inestimable Jim Bacon writes about how the UVA Alumni Association’s magazine Virginia has declined to run an ad from the Jefferson Council regarding the Jefferson-Hemings controversy, deeming the ad a violation of its policies.
Above is an ad that The Jefferson Council submitted to run in the University of Virginia Alumni Society, Virginia. Before I tell you the fate that befell this ad, please take a moment to read it, and then ask yourself: Is there anything political about it? Is there anything contentious about it? Is there anything inaccurate about it?
Sure, you might disagree with the thrust of the ad. Maybe you think, like many people at UVa do, that Jefferson deserves to be remembered in history as a slave-holding rapist. But, really, do you find anything objectionable about the facts, the quotes or the tenor of the presentation?
Apparently, the editor of Virginia Magazine did find the advertisement questionable. In response, recently appointed UVA Board of Visitors member Bert Ellis asked the president of the UVA Alumni Association for a response, which ran as follows:
Congratulations on your appointment to the BOV.
Richard consulted me before responding to Tom. As he said, you can edit this ad or we can run the previous version. Let us know what you decide.
Now I’d be curious to see what the previous ad said. The tactic is a tried and true one, especially for organizations deemed beyond the pale. Submit an anodyne ad, have it approved, submit a revision, have it declined, etc.
Yet the wider complaint echoed by Bacon and others is important to consider in all of this, namely that the present-day narrative regarding the patrimony of Sally Hemings’ children is and remains highly controversial and by no means settled, with the wider problem that the University of Virginia itself is seeking ways of reducing Mr. Jefferson’s presence and role at Mr. Jefferson’s University:
Shaun Kenney is the editor of The Republican Standard, former chairman of the Board of Supervisors for Fluvanna County, and a former executive director of the Republican Party of Virginia.